Mária von Ilosvay (8 May 1913 – 16 June 1987) was a Hungarian

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

renowned for her performances of the role of Erda in Richard Wagner's ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...

''. She studied in Budapest and Vienna, where her teachers included Laura Hilgermann, Felicie Kashovska and .Potter T. "Ladies of low repute – Part 7". '' Classical Recordings Quarterly'', Autumn 2014, no. 78, p. 42. In 1937 she won first prize in the International Singing Contest in Vienna.''Opera''. June 1954, p. 344 During 1937 and 1938 she toured America with an opera company. In 1940, she joined the Hamburg company, while appearing as a guest artist in Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Salzburg. She became a mainstay at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

following its re-opening in 1951 when she made her debut there, until 1958. She recorded the role of Erda in live recordings from Bayreuth conducted by

Clemens Krauss Clemens Heinrich Krauss (31 March 189316 May 1954) was an Austrian conducting, conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner. He founded the Vienna New Year's Concert ...

(1953) and

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career Keilberth began his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe, joining as a répétiteur in 1925 and conducting from 193 ...

(1955, Decca stereo). Among her other recordings of opera excerpts on two 10-inch LPs are arias from ''

La finta semplice ''La finta semplice'' (''The Fake Innocent''), K. 51 (46a) is an opera buffa in three acts for seven voices and orchestra, composed in 1768 by then 12-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Young Mozart and his father Leopold were spending the year in ...

'', '' La Betulia Liberata'', '' Il trovatore'', ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'', ''

Mignon ''Mignon'' () is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. ...

'' and ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

''. She may also be heard in Verdi's Requiem, recorded in 1955 under Paul van Kempen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilosvay, Maria von 1913 births 1987 deaths Operatic contraltos 20th-century Hungarian women opera singers